Canada marks National Day Message from the High Commissioner of Canada, Leopold Battel

Mr Leopold Battel

Canada Day is our country's national day, the annual celebration of our country's founding on July 1, 1867.

Confederation was the culmination of years of discussion and negotiation. Unlike many other countries that fought for their independence, Canada evolved from a colony to an independent nation without any bloodshed.

Like so many Canadians, I take pride in how peacefully our country was able to negotiate its own creation. One hundred and forty one years later, we have become the embodiment of a modern country.

Today is an occasion to express that pride, and to recognise the immense privilege we enjoy as citizens of a peaceful, free, democratic and multicultural country.

Canadians have always sought to do the difficult work of becoming a better country.

Indeed, that is the motto of our country's highest honour--the Order of Canada, created on the occasion of our 100th birthday in 1967--"They desire a better country".

With our blend of English and French, we have found a way to combine two of the world's proudest cultures in one country. And we have added other cultures along the way. Immigration has always been key to Canada's success. We continue to invite people from all corners of the world to further enrich the Canadian experience.

On June 11 of this year, the Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government of Canada, and the leaders of every elected party in Parliament apologised in the House of Commons to the Aboriginal and Métis peoples of Canada.

They apologised for the wrongs done to generations as a result of a policy - misguided and abusive - by which Aboriginal and Métis children were taken away from their families and put into residential schools.

The apology was long overdue. Nevertheless, it was a remarkable and moving day - a recognition of the wrongs of the past, accompanied by a renewed determination to right them.

Today, we have a country with strong public institutions. A professional Public Service that continually rises to new challenges at home and abroad. A Foreign Service celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Armed Forces engaged in UN-sanctioned operations in Afghanistan, and respected around the world.

A competitive economy that thrives on open markets and trade, and is adapting to changing global markets with dynamism and innovation.

A society that is diverse, democratic, tolerant - a country whose makeup is the global neighbourhood.

We are also a country that is proud of our international contribution -proud, too, of the values for which we stand and which we vigorously defend.

Canada rose from peacetime isolation to come to the aid of countries oceans away during the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War and numerous peacekeeping missions over the past 60 years.

We were founding members of landmark organisations such as the United Nations and NATO.

And at every step since the end of the Second World War, we have taken a leading role in helping to build peace and security, fight poverty and injustice, and promote human rights and the rule of law around the world.

Today, we continue that tradition of international commitment and duty. While Canada's international priorities have changed over the years, our engagement has never wavered. Isolation is for us neither an option nor desirable.

Our prosperity is dependent on trade and openness to the world. Our security is found in an international order that is peaceful, stable and based on international law and human rights.

Today, Afghanistan is our most visible commitment.

Canada - as part of a broad coalition of countries, international organisations and non-governmental groups - is seeking to rehabilitate a country wracked by three decades of war.

Our focus mirrors that of the international community: provide security, development and governance, all based on a strategy that looks to return the future of Afghanistan to the Afghan people.

This is difficult work - and we have paid the price. But we will stay the course. To this end, at the recent donors conference in Paris, the Government of Canada pledged an additional half a billion dollars toward Afghan reconstruction.

Canada is also looking to engage more broadly with countries in our hemisphere. After all, we are a country of the Americas.

But we stand ready to work also closely with countries of Asia and Southeast Asia to expand security, democracy and prosperity.

As a trading nation, Canada's prosperity has long depended on the import and export of goods and services, as well as two-way investment.

We want to enhance how we do business with the world and improve our competitiveness in the global economy.

That is why the government is implementing a Global Commerce Strategy, which includes greater market access and strategies for making Canada a partner of choice for international business and investment.

In today's global marketplace, one must play a part in global supply chains. We want Canadian business to get well and truly into these chains - the key to economic success.

Our North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) provides an important platform for inserting Canadian industries into the global value chains and making us more competitive.

At the same time, we are opening new trade offices in emerging markets - in China, India, Brazil and Mexico - to ensure that we're connecting at the other end of the value chains.

Our goal is to build sophisticated, wide-ranging, cooperative partnerships wherever we share common views, interests and values.

Indeed, cooperation with our global partners is an essential part of Canada's international approach.

It is the best path to prosperity, opportunity and the reduction of poverty throughout the world.

We see many examples of Canada's commitment to cooperation. In Brunei Darussalam, a few days ago, under the theme "Partners for Progress" we celebrated the Brunei-Canada Partnership, a partnership based on cooperation in both the political and trade fields. Canada wants to assist Brunei in its economic diversification efforts and sincerely believes it can be a reliable partner to that effect.

On behalf of the Canadian people and Government, I would like to express our most sincere gratitude to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam for his continuing support.

Working closely with His Majesty's loyal subjects - and partners - in Brunei we are confident that we shall make great strides in our bilateral relationship as well as in our partnership in various international fora.

I would like to express my appreciation to HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for his efforts and mentorship in assisting Canada in enhancing our relationship with Asean.

I also would like to extend my warmest regards and thanks to all those partners and friends in Brunei Darussalam for their dedicated cooperation over the past years during which we have achieved much together.

Today, on Canada's 141st birthday, Canadians proudly celebrate our country's many accomplishments, past and present, at home and abroad. But we also reflect on our good fortune to live in such a wonderful country. And we renew our wish to work with others to make the world a better place.

As Prime Minister Harper has said, "Canada is a country with an enviable past and an unlimited future". May we Canadians be inspired by the achievements of the past and the efforts of the present - so that, together, we rededicate ourselves to building an even brighter future.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin